What it takes to get funded in the Midwest

GUEST: “Hey, I’ve got this great idea for a startup! You live in Silicon Valley, can you help me get venture capital funding?”
This is a common request that I get from people that live outside of Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, raising money is hard regardless of if you want to start a company in the Midwest or Silicon Valley. Can I get funding based off of an idea? Nope… Can I get funding based off of a business plan? Nope… Can I get funding if I have an app built